Right from the kick-off, the game was played at a good pace, and both teams looked in great shape offensively. Spain drew first blood in the form of David Silva's headed goal. Later on in the first half, they doubled the lead when Jordi Alba made a fine run to score his first goal for the national team. With this goal, the Italians were down and out, as it seemed to be a difficult task to score against the defending champions.

In the second half, substitutes Torres and Mata scored, and in the process, Torres also became one of the highest goal scorerers of the competition with three goals. He was also awarded the golden boot. It is ironical for him to receive the award as the former Liverpool star was not in great form before the tournament started. He was benched for most of the games, but still he had in him to prove to his critics wrong and score whenever he got a chance.

Apart from Torres, it was Xavi and Iniesta, who were the master cratfsmen in all their games during the championship. They made threading passes to strikers upfront and helped the Spaniards in playing their style of football, which they know it best. It is known as tiki-taka style of football. During the competition, very few teams could stop their style of football. If it did happen, it was just for a short spell. They always love passing the ball around, which makes the game look beautiful. No wonder, clubs across the world are trying to pick the same style of football. Brendan Rodgers, former Swansea manager deployed the same style in the EPL and was successful in it. He wants to follow the same style with his new club, Liverpool. It would not be surprising if other national teams also start playing similar football.

On the other hand, one felt sorry for Italy. They did not play badly against the Spanish team, but they were outplayed by a better team. Though, Italy got chances to score, especially in the first half, but they failed. Had they scored, things could have turned out differently. To a large extent, the Italians were highly dependent on Balotelli and Pirlo to help them win the title. But, the Spanish team had done their home work well, as Balotelli was tightly marked. He could not repeat his semi finals performance, where he scored 2 goals against Germany

With this triumph, Spain has proved that they are one of the best teams in the world. They have won three major titles in the last four years, which is a phenomenal record. They won the 2008 European Championship, 2010 World Cup and now they have added another silverware in their cabinet, 2012 European Championship. As a global footballing superpower, they are in the same league as Brazil, Argentina and Germany though right now they are probably the best.

Now, teams around the world would keep a close tab on Spain, as another major championship, 2014 World Cup is scheduled in Brazil in the next two years. Spain are the defending champions, and their next target would be 2014 World Cup .

Spain has been dominating World football like no other team. They were always a great team, but they were always known as underachievers in the past. Their track record off late has been amazing. It would not be wrong to say that Spain, Brazil and Germany would be the favourites to win the 2014 world Cup.